Beirut, March 30th, 2022
Mayors, municipal council members, municipal police chiefs, and officers from the municipalities of Dekwaneh, Kfarshima, Tyre, the Union of Municipalities of Jabal El-Sheikh, Tripoli and Kfardebian visited Beirut today to ensure their commitment to support the professionalism of the Municipal Police as a public service delivered to the citizens.
Within the frame of the EU-financed project “Promoting Community Policing in Lebanon”, implemented and executed by FIIAPP and Civipol, a workshop was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Verdun, Beirut on March 30, 2022. The project aims to foster social cohesion between the security sector and the citizens and enhance Municipal Police’s service to local populations.
Representatives of the EU-funded project, Mrs. Consuelo Navarro and Mr. Thomas Valetas, set the tone of the workshop and explained the future steps of the project aims to achieve, such as strengthening community dialogue between the civil society, the Municipal Police, and the Internal Security Forces.
Democracy Reporting International, represented by Dr. Andre Sleiman, was there to shed light on the importance of citizen involvement in Municipal work, while Judge Elie Maalouf presented the findings that the engaged municipalities have in common, regarding the role of Municipal Police officers and the barriers faced in the current situation, then gave some recommendations for potential improvement.
At the end of the workshop, a Cooperation Agreement with the Municipality of Kfardebian was signed, making it the sixth municipality to join the program.